This disclosure relates to a stator vane platform for a gas turbine engine, such as those used in industrial applications. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a platform cooling configuration for a stator vane.
Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are communicated through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads. In the case of an industrial gas turbine engine, the turbine section operatively drives a generator, which supplies power to a ground-based power grid.
A typical turbine section includes at least one array of stator vanes. Each stator vane includes spaced apart inner and outer platforms joined to one another by an airfoil. The inner platform includes spaced apart lateral surfaces that circumferentially adjacent lateral surfaces of adjacent stator vanes are in close proximity to one another. A small gap is provided between the adjacent lateral surfaces, and a seal is provided between the adjacent lateral surfaces to seal the inner flow path provided by the inner platform.
The adjacent lateral surfaces are parallel to one another and extend in a radial direction with respect to a rotational axis of the compressor and turbine sections. The lateral surfaces provide a sharp, generally right-angled corner with respect to an inner flow path surface provided by the inner platform. Shower head cooling holes are provided on one of the lateral surfaces to cool the inner platform in the area of the gap.